248 | The Province Goes to the Center
A decision to that effect could not be taken lightly, and this may go a long way
toward explaining why Istanbul was willing to look the other way in the face of
complaints against him. In short, it took a situation that jeopardized Istanbul’s
main concern with reference to Cyprus to dispose of Hadjiyorgakis: the fiscal vi-
ability and social and political stability of the province.
Second, confiscation also entailed the disruption of a whole network of
credit relations, creating a domino effect of defaults of debtors and liquidations.
The rapid auctioning of valuables and landed assets accumulated over decades
meant that they were sold far below market value. This in turn created a redistri-
bution of wealth and economic power—an unpredictable development from the
vantage point of the state.
Such issues are clearly visible in Hadjiyorgakis’s probate records. It was not
until several years later that all aspects of this affair were finalized. The total
value of his estate was 548,858 kuruş, an amount slightly higher than the total of
taxes for the island. Even so, as a plethora of confiscation examples throughout
the empire demonstrates, these figures were usually grossly underestimated. An
observer of the time reports the unofficial estimate of the total value of Hadjiyor-
gakis’s assets as ten times the official probate figure (5.5 million kuruş).
Amid widespread rumors of hidden treasures, the Ottoman state went to
great lengths to recover the dragoman’s estate. Suspicious sales of property were
forbidden, and members of the family and Muslim and non-Muslim associates
of the deceased were interrogated, imprisoned, or tortured. Such was the case
of Hasan Efendi, a religious scholar, who was accused of being an employee
and accomplice of the dragoman. He was tortured to obtain information on the
whereabouts of the wealth of Hadjiyorgakis. Yet despite these tactics, little was
discovered.
More importantly, these probate records reveal the details of a controversy
that emerged after Hadjiyorgakis’s execution concerning a network of financial
relations involving massive sums of money. While in Istanbul, Hadjiyorgakis
borrowed heavily from financiers in the capital. In the aftermath of his death, the
creditors demanded their money, totaling 1,271,000 kuruş (including interest).
Because the dragoman contracted these debts for the “affairs of the country,” the
taxpayers were ultimately responsible—in essence this was security for the debts.
The logic behind this transfer of responsibility was the dragoman’s position as
representative of the province. The quasi-institutional nature of this arrangement
is validated by the governor proceeding to collect the amount of the debt on the
grounds of “local custom.” Such liberal interpretations of custom seem to have
been the reasoning that justified the transfer of responsibility for these debts to
the people of Cyprus and were not unprecedented. Unfortunately, there is little
further information. In all probability, the 1.27 million kuruş was spent on bribes
and presents in an effort to maintain favor with Istanbul elites. Be that as it may,